


Grey Hearted

by TheDamagedKey



Category: Undertale
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), Other, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-13 01:20:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20574107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDamagedKey/pseuds/TheDamagedKey
Summary: Where an old story ends, a new one begins.  Or has one been brewing for much longer?  Whatever the case, not everything is as black and white as it may seem - certainly some areas are far more...grey.





	Grey Hearted

None of the scientists could remember just how the little test tube had made its way into the lab. Certainly, it had to have come from somewhere, and if they went back far enough in the logs, they would find a record of it entering the facility. Although it had been fun for some to speculate, in the end, _where_ it had come from was entirely unimportant. It was a gift, and how rude it would be to look at a gift like this in such a way.

Shortly after its initial discovery, a group of curious lab workers put the contents to the test, quickly thereafter discovering that the small vial contained a sample of marrow, which miraculously contained a complete strand of monster DNA. _How odd_, they thought, _monsters were banished so long ago, after all_. But again, a gift was a gift, and there would certainly be time to consider the donor later. 

  
As one might expect, the first attempt to create a test-tube monster failed miserably. The subject did not survive infancy, and the blood-curdling wails that could only be assumed to have stemmed from pain while it did remain alive were enough for even science to understand just how spectacularly it had failed - even without a proper understanding of scientific parlance. Of course, science is a process full of trial and error; so, in the name of Science, they tried again.

At the age of nine months, once the child’s condition had stabilized, she was given the name “Toey” - mainly as a joke due to her distrusting nature - and for thirty-eight years, three months, five days, thirteen hours, eleven minutes, and twenty-three seconds, that child grew at half the pace of a human child inside a testing facility under the pretense that she was a dangerous monster. And then suddenly, she was free.

***

Somehow, Toey had done it. She wasn’t entirely sure _how_ she’d managed to accomplish her freedom - and so smoothly, at that - but there she was. The doors were simply… open… and for the first time in her life, her pale, shoeless feet touched something other than pristine concrete or sanitized tile. If not for the instinctual voice in the back of her mind scolding her for celebrating prematurely, she might have reveled in her newfound freedom, but the voice began to screech a warning to run - but where to?

Did it really matter? Surely _anywhere_ was better than her small cell, right?

Briefly, Toey thought her heart might explode in her chest if it didn’t calm down a little. Each thump loudly echoed though her head, rhythmically reminding her just how delicate she was, _and_ how delicate the situation was. There was no time to waste, and after a quick – and quite painful – attempt to swallow her quickly beating heart back down, the thin young woman willed herself to move, and without another thought, she ran.  
  
Even at night, it was difficult to remain out of sight in such a compact, bustling city, and as a result, Toey soon found herself with her back pressed tightly to a dark alleyway wall. Silently, she prayed that no one could see her. Due to her frayed nerves, both of her forearms had faded away to reveal bone – an unfortunate side-effect of her mixed lineage – and if her sagging t-shirt was any indication, a good portion of her upper torso had, as well. The last thing she needed now was for someone to realize she was a monster and call for help. Terrified at the very thought, Toey wrapped her arms tightly around her middle to hide herself as well as she could.

It wasn’t long before she found herself somehow growing comfortable in the alley’s shadowy embrace, and despite her massive amounts of internal horror, she realized there were many new sights and sounds around her. Each one simultaneously tried to pull her attention this way and that, attempting to distract her further from her dire predicament. It was another miracle that Toey caught herself before she’d left the alley’s entrance, but after that, she forced herself to stay focused. 

After what felt like a hellish eternity, the crowds began to thin out, and after some frantic flailing, she found that moving quickly along the city walls brought her to an exit of some sort. When she was as close to certain as possible that no one was watching, she darted through the large opening before continuing her escape at the fastest pace her legs would allow. Unfortunately, with very little use for any sort of extensive exercise as a science experiment, Toey found it a great effort to hold the pace she’d set out at, but despite every last muscle in her body screaming for her to stop, she ran until she couldn’t see the overbearing glow of the city anymore.

At long last, she nearly collided with something tall and hard. Coming to a momentary halt, she wondered if this could this be a “tree”? Having never actually seen one before, it was hard to know for certain, but it did remind her of the ones she’d seen in books. Suddenly, she felt wobbly. With her hands on her knees and a keen eye still scanning the horizon for anyone who might be looking for her, Toey finally took a moment to breathe. 

Peering around, she realized she was surrounded by trees. This must be a “forest.” Still, with her “bad eye” obstructed by an eyepatch and the city so far in the distance, she could see nothing - save for the stars, which shone above her and the trees, undoubtedly the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. So this was what an unhindered night sky looked like… 

Was this truly freedom at long last? If so, that was wonderful, but what now? After all these years, this was something she’d only had the faintest nerve to dream about. Now that it was a reality, however…

When her breathing finally steadied, Toey started walking. Even if she could barely make out the glow, the city was still too close for any sort of lasting comfort, and despite being unable to see very well in the darkness, something still told her to keep moving. So far, her instincts hadn’t steered her wrong, and with that in mind, she continued onward. If she didn’t go backwards, anything was progress, right?

For what she was sure must have been hours, Toey focused her dwindling energy on moving forward. As the night progressed, she began to feel colder. Dressed in nothing more than her eyepatch, a long white t-shirt, a collar, and the restraints around her wrists and ankles they had always used to force her frail body to do as they wished, the cold began to seep into her – especially now that she’d calmed down enough for her skin to return. But something called to her, and although she didn’t know it, she was compelled to answer it. 

Then, while her attention was fully taken up by the things she _could_ see, Toey walked right into something that she _couldn’t_. Beyond the cold, she felt weightless. A strange sensation that seemed to last longer than it should, but before she could truly register what was happening, all coherent thought was ended as her head collided rather roughly with the ground. Her vision went fuzzy. All went black. Her breathing slowed and silence reigned. Toey was cold. 

This really _was_ “freedom” - the ability to make bad decisions, and the necessity to face the repercussions that followed. 


End file.
